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Spatial heterogeneity in repeated measures of perceived stress among car commuters in Scania, Sweden

Mattisson, Kristoffer LU orcid ; Jakobsson, Kristina LU ; Håkansson, Carita LU orcid and Cromley, Ellen LU (2016) In International Journal of Health Geographics 15.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Long commutes by car are stressful. Most research studying health effects of commuting have summarized cross-sectional data for large regions. This study investigated whether the levels of stress and individual characteristics among 30–60 min car commuters were similar across different places within the county of Scania, Sweden, and if there were changes over time. METHODS: The study population was drawn from a public health survey conducted in 2000, with follow-ups in 2005 and 2010. The study population was selected from the 8206 study participants that completed the questionnaire at all three time points. Commuting questions in the 2010 questionnaire assessed exposure concurrently for that year and retrospectively for 2000... (More)
BACKGROUND: Long commutes by car are stressful. Most research studying health effects of commuting have summarized cross-sectional data for large regions. This study investigated whether the levels of stress and individual characteristics among 30–60 min car commuters were similar across different places within the county of Scania, Sweden, and if there were changes over time. METHODS: The study population was drawn from a public health survey conducted in 2000, with follow-ups in 2005 and 2010. The study population was selected from the 8206 study participants that completed the questionnaire at all three time points. Commuting questions in the 2010 questionnaire assessed exposure concurrently for that year and retrospectively for 2000 and 2005. In total, 997 persons aged 18–65 and working 15–60 h/week had commuted by car 30–60 min at least at one time point. Geographically weighted proportions of stress among 30–60 min car commuters were calculated for each year and classified into geographically continuous groups based on Wards algorithm. Stress levels, sociodemographic characteristics and commuting characteristics were compared for areas with high and low stress in relation to the rest of the county. This novel methodology can be adapted to other study settings where individual-level data are available over time. RESULTS: Spatial heterogeneity in stress levels was observed and the locations of high and low stress areas changed over time. Local differences in stress among participants were only partly explained by sociodemographic characteristics. Stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2000 were more likely to maintain their commuting mode and time than those not stressed. Stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2000 were also more likely to have the same workplace location in 2010, while stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2010 were more likely to have the same residential location as in 2000. CONCLUSION: The relationship between commuting mode and time and stress is variable in place and time. Better understanding of commuting contexts such as congestion is needed in research on the health effects of commuting. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
International Journal of Health Geographics
volume
15
article number
22
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:84979587890
  • pmid:27465506
  • wos:000381738800001
ISSN
1476-072X
DOI
10.1186/s12942-016-0054-8
project
Commuting, Health, and Wellbeing - Mode and duration matters
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
7e5e9ed0-4d17-4780-800a-0981b25cd1f8
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4964024/
date added to LUP
2016-08-25 16:38:14
date last changed
2023-04-10 20:38:20
@article{7e5e9ed0-4d17-4780-800a-0981b25cd1f8,
  abstract     = {{BACKGROUND: Long commutes by car are stressful. Most research studying health effects of commuting have summarized cross-sectional data for large regions. This study investigated whether the levels of stress and individual characteristics among 30–60 min car commuters were similar across different places within the county of Scania, Sweden, and if there were changes over time. METHODS: The study population was drawn from a public health survey conducted in 2000, with follow-ups in 2005 and 2010. The study population was selected from the 8206 study participants that completed the questionnaire at all three time points. Commuting questions in the 2010 questionnaire assessed exposure concurrently for that year and retrospectively for 2000 and 2005. In total, 997 persons aged 18–65 and working 15–60 h/week had commuted by car 30–60 min at least at one time point. Geographically weighted proportions of stress among 30–60 min car commuters were calculated for each year and classified into geographically continuous groups based on Wards algorithm. Stress levels, sociodemographic characteristics and commuting characteristics were compared for areas with high and low stress in relation to the rest of the county. This novel methodology can be adapted to other study settings where individual-level data are available over time. RESULTS: Spatial heterogeneity in stress levels was observed and the locations of high and low stress areas changed over time. Local differences in stress among participants were only partly explained by sociodemographic characteristics. Stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2000 were more likely to maintain their commuting mode and time than those not stressed. Stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2000 were also more likely to have the same workplace location in 2010, while stressed commuters in the high stress area in 2010 were more likely to have the same residential location as in 2000. CONCLUSION: The relationship between commuting mode and time and stress is variable in place and time. Better understanding of commuting contexts such as congestion is needed in research on the health effects of commuting.}},
  author       = {{Mattisson, Kristoffer and Jakobsson, Kristina and Håkansson, Carita and Cromley, Ellen}},
  issn         = {{1476-072X}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Health Geographics}},
  title        = {{Spatial heterogeneity in repeated measures of perceived stress among car commuters in Scania, Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12942-016-0054-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12942-016-0054-8}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}